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A Glimmer of Hope in North Dakota

North Dakota touts the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the union. While unemployment is on the rise in over half of the country, Bismark, ND is registering the absolute lowest unemployment in the country at 2.5%.

As was the case with most of the country, following the economic catastrophe of 2008, North Dakota saw a sharp spike in unemployment, but the boom ushered in by fracking the Bakken formation quickly reversed the trend. Even with sudden population growth, North Dakota's unemployment rate remains low.

In stark contrast to states with burdensome regulations who coincidentally face staggering budgetary deficits, the state of North Dakota is expecting a budget surplus of $1.6 billion. Surplus is reinvested in the state by way of education and other public programs, making North Dakota an attractive prospect to those in fledgling states.

Detractors of North Dakota's success claim this is just an energy boom with an inevitable bust looming on the horizon. There was a time when conversations with new Texan acquaintances began with, "are you in oil or cattle?" The presumption being of course, that to be gainfully employed in the lone star state, you worked in one of the two largest industries. While these industries helped to create a thriving economy, today Texas can boast of a diverse economy that is attracting businesses from states where regulatory overload renders profitability difficult. With crude oil production still on the rise, there's no reason North Dakota cannot be a similar job magnet.

Yet, North Dakota provides hope beyond its immediate economic success. Every President since Nixon promised to work towards energy independence. Fracking shale reserves may be the ticket to finally achieving such a lofty goal. The benefits of increased fracking are almost innumerable and would reach into foreign policy, economic output, export, local economies and the list goes on. Increased oil production would drive down the cost of energy, decreasing the cost of goods across the board.

In the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression, North Dakota provides a glimpse of what is possible in a business friendly climate, where energy exploration is encouraged. Just imagine if such a success were repeated nationwide.

Americans already face a $1.8 trillion regulatory burden. These heavy costs are passed on by businesses to consumers, who spend almost a quarter of their annual income complying with regulations often approved executive-level agencies, which have effectively become the fourth branch of the federal government.

We all know that Congress has some big ticket items on its agenda for next year - repealing ObamaCare, balancing the budget, reining the president’s executive authority, but receiving less attention than perhaps they should are a number of smaller regulatory battles in which the new Republican majority could make a real difference.

As one of our over 6.6 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote YES on the Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Act, H.R. 5078. Sponsored by Rep. Steve Southerland, this bill would stop another massive overreach of authority by the Environmental Protection Agency that threatens the property rights of thousands of Americans.

My name is Mary Allison Page and I live in Gibsonville, North Carolina. This year, I will be a rising sophomore at Western Alamance High School. On Wednesday morning, I addressed the North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission to express my support for hydraulic fracturing in North Carolina. I attended the hearing with FreedomWorks activists from all across North Carolina.

The Pebble Project would not only bring a new copper and gold mine to Alaska, it would bring an economic boom to the region with nationwide effects. Too bad that it was blocked by the EPA before it was even given a chance.

Precedent is a powerful thing. Once something has been established as acceptable behavior, there will inevitably be a flood of eager followers. That is why trailblazers get all the credit. The brave souls who test the waters, who first go where no one else dares, who push the envelope and set the stage for the rest of us. In many walks of life, such as science, exploration, and philosophy, these people are heroes, pushing mankind forward even when it is dangerous to do so. In politics, however, the trailblazer all too often covers territory that would have been better left unexplored.

UPDATE: FreedomWorks activists sent over 4,000 messages to the EPA to stop the proposed rule that would have given the agency the power to garnish the wages of private citizens. A notice published in the Federal Register formally withdrew the rule. The EPA had previously stated that they would withdraw the rule if adverse comments were received by August 1.

When the Clean Water Act was first conceived, the EPA could only restrict entrepreneurs when they attempted to pollute bodies of water that were used by their fellow businesses, or what the EPA calls ‘navigable waters.’ However, its original mission is far too modest for modern-day bureaucrats.

Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on the EPA is getting some confused news coverage from people unsure of the actual impact of the Court’s decision. First of all, it is important to note that this case has nothing to do with the recent, controversial expansion of the EPA’s powers as adeptly covered by Julie Borowski here. Instead, this case addressed an earlier attempt from the EPA to solidify its ability to broadly regulate greenhouse gas emissions for virtually everyone in the United States.